I totally helped...

 

2 door Cherokees themselves aren't REAL uncommon, but this isn't really an "older" one as far as XJs go.

What makes THIS one extremely uncommon is that it's a 98, 5spd, 4.0, 4x4..... and 2 door. I don't have dat lux interior. Just grey cloth.

I paid $2500 for it. The blue one is mechanically identical, except less man pedal and more doors. We paid $3000 for it a little over 4 years ago. Prices are going up on these things.

As for mileage, Crystal drives the blue one, and her commute is about.... 7 miles of 40mph speed limits. So she gets about 15mpg on a good tank. I've done 22mpg all highway with it before. Typical mixed driving for me on the blue one is about 18mpg.

The red one i'd expect to be about 1-2mpg better with the 5spd. It's a little lighter as well. The auto trans in these things is a huge beast.

 

Probably. I think it's an Aisin-Warner AX15.

 

Jeeps always have gotten lousy mileage. My Liberty got 18 at best.

 

so someone on facebook showed this weird *** thing, I have never seen it before at all-- our theories are pretty broad, but my theory is it's some silly, stupid way to relieve crankcase pressure/gasses/blow-by in a sealed block...

...or some ****** decided to be a evil bastard and mate a random valve to a random piston.




The other theories are its a 2 stroke, or compressor piston

 

This is something I don't quite get with Jeep owners, and the vast majority of wranglers being manual. If you want a badass rock crawler with your winch/lift kit/brush guards/bigass tires, wouldn't an auto be the way to go?

 

Looks to me like some sort of pressure relief for a compressor.

 

For me personally? Yeah. I think i'd rather have an auto.

I'm not honestly entirely sure i understand the point of the manual in these trucks. The auto is a VERY good and strong unit.

It's just more quirky than anything in this case. Kinda fun.

I'm also not big into slow-speed crawling, so when i do this..... it'll be better.

 

You did help. You photoshopped it.

Also you hammered.

 

My 4.0L TJ got 14 stock.

Added a full 2.5" exhaust, custom intake, bored out throttle body, a set of 35x12.5s and a 6.5" kit and ended up at 17mpg. Go figure.

Because 3 speed tranny and large tires for street driving is a dog.

 

Yeah our 2000 seems to have improved on MPG a point or two after the lift, bigger tires, and exhaust.



Eh, that's what re-gearing is for. I'll be re-gearing this thing once i go to 33s. Kits are cheap enough i don't know why you wouldn't. Gearing with the 5spd is already atrociously long to begin with, i wouldn't want to make it worse. I'll probably even go a little shorter than stock.

 

Even after regearing the 3 speed is just bad. Should have been a 4 speed minimum. I drove an automatic and it was a disaster, the rpm range between gears is huge.

 

31's and whatever the stock ratios on my YJ with the 5 speed was absolutely stupid. I can't imagine NOT regearing if going any larger.

 

Really? Are we talking about the Aisin AW4? Because that's a 4spd. I don't know what a 3-speed would be like. I like the AW4 in the Cherokee. Crisp-shifting unit, though lockup happens a little early, leaving it trying to accelerate from 45mph in overdrive which isn't great unless you're hammering it a bit. Super reliable and plenty strong for the 4.0, though.

 

TJs have a 3 speed auto RH30 or RH32 for the 4.0L. Very high first and second ratio and then third gear ratio is crazy low. Agreed the Cherokees have a great tranny.

 

Oh that sounds AWFUL. o_O

 

Especially for a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a barn.

 

**** yes.

I'm going to go broke with this damn thing. Might sell off red Miata to fund this jeep.

 

 

Lol, might as well be a Miata. Here's a rare "Cherokee".



We got a warning from the city for operating a chop shop when I moved my lift kit from my 4dr xj to my mj.



I was a Jeep nut long before I knew miatas existed. My mom had an XJ when I was a little kid and it was such a good car that at one point every member of my immediate family had one. I'll have to look for the picture of us with all of them.